Writer-director Sean Durkin has become perhaps by accident an auteur of wrecked families with such films as “Martha Macy May Marlene” (2011), TV’s “Southcliffe” (2013) and “The Nest” (2020). He continues to explore them in “The Iron Claw,” a film I had a hard time taking seriously because it insists on presenting professional wrestling as a genuine competitive sport.
Based on the true story of the Von Erich family originally of Texas, “The Iron Claw” asks us what to think of a father of four sons who is happy to rank them to their faces. Fritz Von Erich (the always impressive Holt McCallany in a problematic role), whose real last name is Adkisson, is the patriarch of a professional wrestling family. The “iron claw” of the title is a wrestling move invented by Von Erich with which you grab your opponent by the head, placing your hand on his face and using your thumb and middle fingers to grasp the temples and squeeze. I’m skeptical, but I’ll take it on trust. Fritz has been successful. He’s a horse buff with a big house and a collection of pistols and trophies.
Fritz’s very competitive son Kevin Von Erich (Zac Efron) considers himself the next-in-line to lead the family. In opening scenes, he meets an attractive fan named Pam (Lily James, still in Pamela Anderson mode), who has to ask him to ask her out. They get married and start a family. Kevin, whose (dorky if you ask me) trademark is fighting barefoot, has the bulging muscles of a bodybuilder. Efron looks like he drank a gallon of steroids for the role and wears his hair (wig?) in a bowl cut. I swear he looks just like the title character from the 1920 German silent film classic “Der Golem.” Look it up.
Kerry Von Erich (a surprisingly weak turn by Jeremy Allen White) is an up and comer until a disastrous motorcycle accident, and Kerry slides into a pit of depression. Kevin and Kerry’s horse-breeding brother David (Harris Dickinson) also wrestles as a Von Erich and even gets a chance to go against champion wrestler Ric Flair (Aaron Dean Eisenberg). Von Erich brother Mike (Stanley Simons) is content to be a member of the family tag team.
The Von Erichs come to believe that they live under a curse. An infant in the family dies of SIDS. The Von Erich family tragedies vie with the bad wigs for our attention. “Don’t Do Me Like That” and “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” are cries for mercy. I admire Durkin’s mobile camera. Brother Chris Von Erich was cut from the film entirely. David pukes blood, says he’s fine and goes to a family wedding. “The Iron Claw” is “King Richard,” if the Williams sisters got hooked on opioids and self-harmed. Toward the end, I realized the movie had me in an iron claw the whole time. I wanted out.
(“The Iron Claw” contains profanity, drug use, sexually suggestive material and violence)
Rated R. At the AMC Boston Common and Landmark Kendall Square. Grade: C